The addition of any employee to a new organization is a serious decision. If the idea of bringing on a full-time employee for a new venture like this is daunting then let’s take a step back.
There are plenty of ways to get your content created, serve your customer, and build your digital signage business without the need of a new hire. “Companies don’t always do all of the pieces,” says Doug Price of NanoLumens. “They may contract out the content. They may not actually have people in-house that do that.”
To begin with you can contract out locally using college students and recent graduates. They may be art majors in college or going to trade school. Get a portfolio to see how they work and what their experience is in the digital realm. Make certain they understand the nature of the work and what your expectations are. When you get a good group of them you will be able to expand your business relatively painlessly as you can add contractors as needed. Some of them may even work their way into being your first full-time art or creative director.
The drawback of hiring an online contractor to do your creative is you will not have their expertise when meeting with the client. The benefit is you can usually get items turned around quickly without the expense of a full-time employee.
If you don’t have a university readily available you can always contract online. Sites like ODesk and Fiverr offer creation services from content creators around the globe. In working through contractor sites like these make sure you have a clear scope of work both for you and them. They need to fully understand what it is you are asking them to do so they can price accordingly. You don’t want to pay for something and not get what you were hoping for.
The drawback of hiring an online contractor to do your creative is you will not have their expertise when meeting with the client. The benefit is you can usually get items turned around quickly without the expense of a full-time employee.
Another option is to team up with a content creation services company. “If the client is interested in more-advanced interactive and/or touch-sensitive content, we have content partners that we team with while we drive the content creation discussion with the client,” says McIntosh.
This option is akin to contracting a student but gives you the confidence of working with someone already in the field. They will typically be more adept at educating the client, and you, about what’s possible in the world of content delivery and creation.
Additionally, the responsibility of keeping updated on software is up to them. The drawback of this situation is they may not always have the bandwidth to service you and your client. When reaching an agreement with a content creation firm, make sure you spell out your needs and expectations.
There is a reason industry experts have been telling integrators to get into the digital signage business. The margins on the boxes we sell are getting smaller. This is not news to anyone. Services is where the successful companies are moving toward.
A full “soup-to-nuts video solutions” provider, as Price puts it, will be able to solve their customers’ needs for the long term. As you gear up for this new revenue stream, study the various possibilities and make the decision that will make you — and your clients — happy.
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